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India Hits U.S. Where it Hurts: In the Club

Indian students protested the arrest of Devyani Khobragade at the US consulate, Hyderabad, December 19, 2013.

When trying to win a diplomatic spat, the ability to make life a little less comfortable for the other country’s citizens by denying them diplomatic privileges and an expat lifestyle, can prove a useful weapon.

The government told the U.S. to shut down its club for American expats and stop operating shops and other commercial establishments in its embassy compound by Jan. 16, an Indian government official familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

This means no more dining at the restaurant, swimming in the pool or playing on the soccer field or tennis court for members of the elite American Community Support Association, popularly known as American Club. These perks, reserved for members who have to be recommended by a U.S. diplomat before they are granted membership, are rare in Delhi where open-air swimming pools and places serving steak aren’t the norm.

On top of this, the Indian government in recent days banned the embassy from screening movies at the American center in the capital, until they obtain a proper license.

Normal diplomatic immunity from traffic rules will no longer apply to U.S. embassy diplomats, the official added. Local traffic police “have been asked to make no exception,” with the U.S. Embassy cars, the official said.

A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi could not be reached for comment.

The latest action against U.S. citizens in Delhi comes ahead of the Jan. 13 deadline for the indictment of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian consular officer, accused by U.S. prosecutors of committing visa fraud and underpaying her domestic maid in New York.

Ms. Khobragade, 39, was handcuffed outside her daughter’s school in New York and put in jail briefly before posting bail last month. She was strip- searched and had to share a cell with drug addicts during her brief arrest, according to her lawyer and Indian authorities.

Following reports of her treatment, the Indian government revoked diplomatic privileges for American officials and removed security barriers near the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Indian politicians expressed outrage and demonstrators held protests against her arrest near the embassy.

In an attempt to defend Ms. Khobragade from prosecution, India reassigned her to the country’s permanent mission at the United Nations, a move aimed at providing her with broader legal protections than she enjoyed as a Consular official in New York. She is yet to receive a clearance from the U.S. which has said that full diplomatic immunity from prosecution or arrest cannot be retroactively applied.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tried to damp down resentment by calling the country’s national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon and expressing regret for Ms. Khobragade’s treatment, in an effort to prevent the incident from devolving into a bigger political dispute.

India has sought an apology and asked the U.S. to withdraw charges against the Indian diplomat.

On Monday, India’s foreign secretary Sujatha Singh told U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell during a meeting in New Delhi that it could not be “business as usual” between the two countries until the issue was settled.

Last week, the U.S. delayed the visit of its new Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Neha Desai Biswal, to New Delhi.